Screenshot: Amazon Studios
Usually I love nothing more than peeling apart the layers of
Expanse episodes, separating the storylines and what they have to say, thinking about what the action means for the characters, how they’re shaped by their choices, and how neatly all these things fit together. “Tribes” is beautifully structured, from a shaking Avasarala at the outset (still in that blue jacket!) to a rattled Amos realizing how much he needs his crew.
But this week, I just keep wanting to see it as a single piece: a long, affecting moment of survival, grief, and arrogance. In that sense, it feels so close that it’s hard to look at straight-on.
Screenshot: Amazon Studios
The crew of the
Rocinante have been through a lot, from the moderately mundane (exploding ships, interplanetary secrets, attempted murder) to the previously unimagined (a deadly hybrid, an alien intelligence, the opening of hundreds of ring gates, a hostile alien planet). But this season, the threats are of a more human nature.
Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar has described the season five theme as “you reap what you sow,” but there’s another old saw we can use here: a lot of space chickens are about to come home to roost.
Though
The Expanse will mostly release weekly this season, Amazon let loose the first three episodes at once. It’s a lot to talk about at once, so let’s get to it! And yes: